NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas said Friday that prices at the pump are still roughly where they have been for a while.
"This summer has been very stable, I guess would be the main word to describe it," Steward said. "That's a far cry from the volatility that we saw last summer. Today's average in Kansas is $3.24 a gallon. We've been within a cent or two of that for more than a month."
Reno County has the lowest average price in the state at $3.10 a gallon.
"Demand has peaked here and there this summer with the holiday weekends, Memorial Day and July 4th," Steward said. "Overall, it's been remarkably unremarkable in terms of wild swings in gas prices."
The lack of a real peak period to this point in the summer gives hope that maybe we can get back below $3 a gallon at some point in the fall, but Steward isn't holding his breath.
"Crude oil has stayed fairly stable throughout the summer," Steward said. "I think it's been tempered by concerns about inflation and the economy and so we've stayed in the low 70s or upper 60s in terms of a per barrel price of crude oil throughout the summer."
More than half of the price of a gallon of gas at the pump, on average, is controlled by the underlying price of the crude oil from which it is refined.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.